We are Wolves
by Kisses with teeth
Summary: Bella thought Christmas was meant to be filled with joy and holiday cheer, not a car accident, giant wolves and bizarre naked men running around in the rain. Pack/Bella Fic.
1. Chapter 1

_We are Wolves_.

Bella thought Christmas was meant to be filled with joy and holiday cheer, not a car accident, giant wolves and bizarre naked men running around in the rain. Eventual Pack imprint Fic.

Disclaimer: Twilight is the sole creation of _Stephenie Meyer, whom I am not._ I take no claim to any of the characters herein and make no profit from this publication. This is merely artistic expression.

Chapter start: Goodbye Kansas.

 _"We are not men disguised as mere dogs. We are wolves disguised as men."_

* * *

The pack was gathered together in a leech hunting trio. Three massive wolves, black, silver and masked-brown, tearing through the forest in a blur of colour and a series of communitive howls.

 _Paul, make it to go left_. Sam snarled through their shared link, jowls quivering with the thought of the impending kill.

 _Got it._ Paul was in front, currently the fastest of their three man pack, with Sam close at his heels. Ahead of them a blond vampire zipped to and fro, agile on his feet. Flicking up into trees and using them to projectile himself ahead of the wolves.

Always just out of reach. Aggravated, Paul threw himself at the tree, knocking the leech from its perch. Sam, using his pack mate with skilled ease, kicked off from his beta's sturdy hide and snapped at the vampire's heal. Sam managed to catch the blood suckers pants within his teeth, just barely grazing the hard, cold skin that lay beneath the now tattered fabric.

The blond vampire let out an unearthly screech and shot off to the left.

 _Good job, Paul_. Sam huffed with pride, taking off after the stinking blur of white and gold. With Jared zipping ahead. Paul righted himself and joined them with effortless grace, rolling his body in a distinctly lupine way before digging his heavy paws into the soft earth and launching after them.

 _I'm_ always _good, Sam_. Paul snickered through the link, taking the lead once more. The leech was making its way towards town again, heading towards the road that lead into Forks.

Shit. The thought was simultaneously shared throughout the packs connected mind.

 _Too far left._ Jared snarled sending out a splitting howl of anger. Paul was getting closer, snapping his massive jaws joyously at the leech who had no safety of trees to jump up into. There was about a mile of flat ground before they hit the road. Sam's head suddenly lifted skywards, nose twitching, ears erect and alert.

 _Civilian! Heading this way in a car_. The thought was enough for them to get it together. No more playing, it was time to end this.

Sam used his bulk to run into the back of Paul's legs, sending him vaulting forwards. The nomad was just out of the silver wolves reach when another blur joined the first, propelling itself into Jared, who let out an agonized whimper. The brown wolf was bodily thrown into the ground with a sickening crack. The two rolled in a frenzy onto the road. Jared bleeding from a bad break in his hind leg and the newcomer with her arms around his neck.

 _Jared!_ Paul turned to his fallen friend, losing focus on the blond who had spun, now brave with the sudden appearance of help, and punched the silver wolf clean in the snout.

 _Paul, focus!_ Sam dove over the sprawled form of his stunned beta and took down the vampire with eager claws and gnashing teeth.

None of them had time to react to the car that was suddenly upon them. Tires screeched ineffectively over asphalt, in an attempts to break. A terrified scream came from within the car as it hit the back of the vampire that had Jarred in a choke hold. The force of the impact knocking the vampire away from the wounded wolf, before skidding across the road, going headlong into the 'Welcome to Forks' sign before stalling. The Vampire had barely landed before Paul was on it, dragging it away from the wreckage by the neck.

* * *

'I hope this was a good idea.' Nerves shook Bella as she began to doubt her idea of returning to Forks for the first time in two years.

A wiry smile curled Bella's features as she watched the alien green scenery speed past, rain beating down in thick sheets against her hire car.

"We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto." She laughed humourless to herself, reaching down to pet the lump of shaggy fur resting it's head on her lap, looking up at her with barely open, unamused eyes.

Settling back into her seat, hands at ten to two on the steering wheel, Bella let her mind wander aimlessly.

Almost immediately Renee's face floated to mind. Sad, doe- brown eyes pleading Bella to understand unnecessarily. Bella had seen firsthand how happy Phil made her mother. While Bella had been busy with school, with passing grades and extracurricular actives, Renee had been slowly slipping into depression.

Until Phil that was.

Phil had returned the smile to her mother's face, and it was all sunshine and puppies. Bella couldn't have condemned Renee for finding love even if she'd had the inclination to. Besides, Bella was seventeen now, old enough to leave the nest and maybe reconnect with her father.

While Bella had not seen much of Charlie the last two years due to exams, she knew he had made the effort even when she hadn't. He had taken time off work and flown to Phoenix just to see her, and even taken her out afterwards for dinner with Phil and Renee.

Surprisingly there had been no awkwardness. No lingering glances towards her mother or envious looks towards Phil. Charlie had been alight with pride. Laughing along with Phil's stories of Bella's clumsiness while sipping on a beer, his arm slung behind Bella's shoulders in a loose hug.

Anxiety tried to rear its ugly head, but she forced it back, determined to make this year a great one. She had already secretly enrolled and would start after the winter (Big thanks to Khyharah for helping me realise my blunder here.) holidays were done. She would spend Christmas with Charlie, and it would be great.

The back seat was a mess of wrapped packages of varying sizes and shapes. Ranging from tackle to new 'state of the art' fishing poles. A testament of all her hard work with after school jobs and savings.

A soft 'whuff' emitted from her lap and Bella laughed, realising that she should probably focus more on driving than stressing because she had just veered into the wrong lane.

"Alright you, I'm looking." She teased the dog that perked at her words, ears spiking up and his pink tongue just barely poking out of his mouth.

Reaching for the stereo dial, Bella hit the button and let the soft sounds of music fill the car, tapping her hands the wheel in time with Jewel. Her lilting croon lulling Bella into a sense of calm. She took a sip from her energy drink and began singing along as a new song started up.

 _"I've got a new age girl, tell us what she's like. Environmentalist girl, does she ride a bike? She has a crystal necklace; she spend a lot of cash? Though her vibes are rather reckless, heading for a crash."_

The rain had turned from buckets to a torrential downpour that was both blinding and threatening to wash her clean of the roads in combination with the high winds. Looking away from the road for a second, Bella turned up the heat and hit the wipers up a notch. By the time she looked back up the window had started to fog up and she was driving nearly blind.

"Holy crow, this is dangerous!" She exclaimed, briefly considering pulling over until the rain let up a bit. However, this was Washington, and the likely hood of the rain dissipating was as about as likely as Bella spontaneously having a tan. Not very likely.

Wolf's head suddenly lifted off of her legs, his body shooting towards the windscreen in the blink of an eye.

"Whoa, boy, calm down. It's just a bit of rain." She tried to coo, but the dog was having none of it, letting out a series of barks with increasing volume and pitch, until he sounded like he was in pain. He darted heavily onto her lap, obscuring her already limited to the view of the road.

"Wolf, calm down buddy I can't see." Bella urged, trying to push the mountain of fur off of her. Wolf tossed his head back and let out a howl, lips curling back over his teeth. Pushing the dog with all her might, she managed to get him off enough to catch a glimpse of the road, her body seizing when she did. There in the middle of her lane was a massive lump, fuzzy and hard to see.

'A bear?' Her mind provided with blind panic. She stamped down on the breaks, cursing herself when the car lost traction, sliding across the road with no sense of direction, steering wheel spinning out of her hands. Something hard and heavy hit the car, rolling up the cracked window shield only to slide over the roof and bounce off of the boot.

'Oh no, had she hit the poor animal?'

No, it hadn't looked like the thing on the road. Whatever she had hit had looked…Well, human. Sort of. Albeit blurry but human-ish nonetheless.

An involuntary scream left Bella as the car careened right towards a sign post, hitting it dead on with startling force. Her head hit the steering wheel, bouncing off only to hit it a few more times for good measure before the airbags finally burst free in an explosion of white power.

For a moment, all Bella could do was groan weakly in pain, the husky-cross snarling snapping in the seat beside her, paws scraping at the passenger side window. The presents were all thrown askew across the backseat and floor. Coughing on the thickly powdered air, Bella flapped a hand in a feeble attempt to clear the cab of the small Ford of the thick white cloud. When it proved useless, she rubbed delicately at her forehead that seeped blood upon contact.

Well, shoot. Another scar to add to her ever increasing collection.

Pulling the lever to her seat, she pushed the chair back and fumbled with the door handle, toppling out ass-over-heels into the rain. She landed hard on her face. Gravel biting into the torn flesh of her head.

'Ouch!' Hissing, she dragged herself up, quickly shut the door to keep Wolf from jumping out after her and wobbled across the road. There exactly where she had seen it previously was the huge, hunched figure of a furred animal. Bella looked around in alarm for the person she could of sworn she had hit but found nothing but mere scraps of tattered clothing. Confused, she turned back to the beast that was now trying to stagger to its paws.

When a shard of white popped out of rendered flesh with a sickening wet sound that had Bella wanting to gag, the animal gave a pitiful whine and flopped back down.

'What had she done?' Had she killed it? Terrified, she staggered a few steps towards it. The wind whipped her long hair into a frenzy of strawberry scented mahogany around her face, and her heavy duty coat now felt like ten tons of brick, clinging wetly to her skin. From within the tree line, a series of howls broke out over the shrill sounds of the wind and the sound chilled her to the bone.

What had she gotten herself into?

"Shoot, shoot…shoot!" she hissed, turning in circles. She wanted to help the animal. She honestly did. Wanted to see what could be done. But the fear of it turning on her had her heart hammering in her chest.

"Please, please don't bite me." She whispered mostly to herself, before steeling her spine. She inched towards the great lump of rain soaked fur. Her eyes widened when she realised exactly what she was looking at.

Glowing amber eyes stared up at her unblinkingly. Long muzzle pulled up in soft snarls.

This huge beast was a wolf. What the hell was in the water around here! To clarify, it was a wolf the size of a freaking horse! Swallowing audibly, Bella extended a shaking hand and tried her best to muster up a bravely sounding tone.

"Hey there boy, I'm not going to hurt you. I- I just want to help."

The wolf seemed to analyze her critically. Eyeballs the size of her headlights roved over her quacking figure in a look that felt more human than animal. As if pacified she wasn't a threat; the wolf lowered it's lips over it's pearly white teeth and huffed out a great puff of air, head sagging against it's paws.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm not going to hurt you." She continued to coo as she slowly closed the distance between them. It was still out of reach when she first felt the heat radiating from it. It startled her. The poor creature was burning up. Bella uncertainly pushed her hands into thick downy soft fur and gently scratched it between the ears as she bent down to assess the damage.

Bella had to force back a mouthful of bile when she saw ribs and muscles from beneath luscious brown fur. Its leg was a tattered mess. Snapped bone and torn ligaments spilling out of the wound.

Shucking out of her coat, Bella quickly pulled her soaked camisole over her head. Exposing her bra to the bitter cold wasn't ideal, but it was necessary she assured herself as she shivered violently against the wind and drowning downpour. With strength she didn't know she could gather, Bella began tearing her soaked top into thick strips. The wolf reared back, looking almost abashed at the sight of her semi-bare top-half.

"Bet this is a first, eh?" She tried to joke, leaning over the gargantuan wolf in an attempts to bind its chest. "Strange human hits you with her car than gets naked in front of you."

The wolf let out an odd sound from between it's lips that kind of sounded like a laugh before whining when she knotted a scrap of her top around its wound.

"Shh, shh. It's okay. I know it hurts. But I need to staunch the bleeding." It never occurred to her that it might come off as nuts that she was talking to an animal that probably had no idea what she was saying. It was comforting to her, and that's all that mattered.

The leg was going to be hard. Crawling down towards the twisted limp, Bella felt a sob welling in her throat. It was a mess. How could she help this? Turning to face the wolf, which had lifted up its head to watch her, she bit her lip and nodded.

She had no idea why. It seemed like the thing to do.

Promising herself years of psychiatric help after this, Bella set about tying together segments of her top. Standing, she gave the wolf a quick reassuring pet before darting awkwardly across the road to gather up a couple of sticks before returning to the wounded wolf.

"Oh, boy. I am so sorry, but this is going to hurt. I just hope you don't snap at me." She croaked around the lump in her throat.

Placing gentle hands on the animal's leg caused it to flinch and let out a soft whine that cut through her like a knife. Determined, she steadied her hand and with all the practice she'd gotten from her first-aid course, pushed the bone back into what she hopes was the right position. The brown wolf threw its head back and let out a piercing howl of pain which dissolved into whimpers.

"I know, I know, it hurts. I'm so sorry." She sobbed, and quickly braced the leg before binding it with the remaining sections of her shirt. The instant she was done she fell back onto her butt and crab-crawled back towards the head of the wolf that was thrashing as it gurgled out sounds of agony. She pushed her hands into the scruff of its hackles and pulled it gently onto her lap, hunching over it in sad attempts to shield it from the rain, and maybe the pain also.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking. This is all my fault." She sobbed, blowing snot bubbles as tears burned salty paths down her cheeks, mixing with the rain that washed it away. Her hair hung in heavy tendrils down her shoulders and clung to her face.

"I won't leave you here, I won't I promise." She assured the gorgeous animal, looking towards her steaming car with apprehension. Was this thing going to fit in her car? Doubtful. And what about her dog? If she put this beast in the backseat of her car, Wolf would probably have a meltdown. She had to do something though.

Nibbling her lip, Bella tried to gauge the size of her back seat from where she was sitting and then the size of the wolf. Maybe if she laid the seat down? Charlie's gifts would have to get a bit wet. She was sure she could make it up to him. Besides, wasn't fishing stuff designed to get wet?

Bella had no idea but was going to go with that train of thought.

"Think you can stand if I help?" She turned her gaze back to the wounded look she was being shot by huge amber eyes. It was then that she noticed the mottling of silver and white around the animals eyes. Giving it a racoon mask look. It was cute. Another wave of hysteria hit her as she realised that she had probably killed this magnificent animal. Would it survive such grizzly injuries?

Scooching back out from under it's limp weight, Bella squatted to give it another soft rub before telling it unnecessarily and stupidly to stay. Which earned her a 'whuff' that probably meant? Where was I going to go? before dashing to her car.

Wolf pounced on her the second she was inside the car, snuffling along her hands and neck before delivering an extra slobbery lick to her cheek.

"Cross your paws, Wolf, and hope this car still starts." She muttered, looking over her shoulder as she turned the key. After putting the car in neutral and three attempts to start it, the Ford finally sputtered to life.

"Yes! Thank heavens." She cried, pumping her fists before jamming it into reverse and skidding back up into the road in a flicking of gravel and debris that was mostly foliage but also a little bit her car. Once on the road, she aligned the car dead center before spinning it around to face rear towards the wolf on the road. She backed up slowly, so she didn't startle it – hopefully-, before killing the engine.

She popped the trunk then kicked open the door hastily.

"Don't move you." She commanded her faithful canine companion before shutting the door.

She rounded the back end of her car hastily, coming face to face with a naked man that glared at her balefully.

Bella squeaked and stumbled back.

What on earth?

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Mystery man growled at her, his gaze boring a hole through her face like a laser. Bella didn't dare meet his eyes, so she went from studying his very straight nose to looking at her shoes.

"I- I hit a wolf." She croaked out sadly. Ashamed. This person was probably native, and she'd just hit an animal they revered- if memory served her correctly.

"Well, I can fucking see that! I meant what the hell are you doing running around shirtless and in the rain." The man barked, and Bella flinched.

"I was g-going to take it to an animal shelter." Her lip quivered with the urge to cry, voice stuttering with nerves.

Where had this person come from and why was he naked? Was he going to charge her? Get her kicked out of Forks? Report her for animal abuse or indecent exposure?

Bella could feel the sneer being sent her way.

"An animal shelter. Really? You think they're going to fucking help?" the man before her radiated the same out of this world heat the wolf had, scorching Bella through the measly layers of her clothing.

"Paul! Knock it off." A second voice joined the fist and Bella looked up to see yet another naked man charging toward her. She backed up hastily, eyes saucer wide almost stumbling over her feet. She was forced to a standstill when her back into the boot of her car.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't see it. It was so dark and the rain, and... I'm so sorry." Hysteria won over at last, and an apology spewed out of her on a hiccuping cry.

Warm hands touched her shoulders, and she shuddered in their hold. A hundred tiny ants were crawling along her skin with sensation. The hands jerked away, and she was glad for it, rubbing her arms to ease the tickling feel.

"You did fine. Paul is just being an asshole. You get used to it. Are you from around here or just visiting?" This voice was gentle and kind, but baritone and so low it rumbled over her like thunder.

"I- I came to see my father." She murmured out, casting a saddened look at the wolf still sprawled across the road. Her hands lifted to her mouth and sound bubbled out of her that was all distress.

"Really, that's great. Can you tell me your name?" the guy continued, probably trying to keep her focus away from what was happening.

"Bella. My name is Bella." She sniffled; head tucked in shame.

"Well, Bella, how about we get you back to your car, and I drive you to Forks. Does that sound like a good idea?" The suggestion was smooth and silky, and Bella almost immediately wanted to agree. Like an invisible hand of willpower wrapping around her own and snatching it away from her.

Just as she was about to nod, movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention.

"Shit, Jared, not yet buddy." The guy called Paul hissed out, eye flicking to where Bella stood. However, it was the scene on the road that had Bella choking on a scream and her eyes rolling back in her skull.

Where there had once been a wolf, now lay a very naked, profusely bleeding man. And she had seen it happen. Seen fur ease way into rain slick russet skin and dark hair. Bandaged with ragged strips of what once had been her shirt.

The world shrank in to a tunnel of dimming light, which involved nothing but that low rumbling voice and hands flying out to catch her as she collapsed in a dead feint.

End Chapter.

Hopefully this wasn't too dark for you guys. I am so excited to be writing this, the idea has been bugging me for a while. This is going to be a long, bumpy road with laughs, life lessons and love abound, and I hope those of you that give this a chance, stick around to ride it out with me. I look forwards to your feed back, answer any questions and just give out love in general. Also if there are any inconsistencies or holes, let me know and I'll go back and fix them up. Any/all spelling and Grammatical errors are my own, and I apologize or them, this is unbeta'd.


	2. Coocoo for Cocoapuffs

Chapter Start: Coocoo for cocoa puffs.

"Cause you're young, you're wild, you're free,  
You're dancin' circles around me,  
You're fuckin' crazy.  
Oh, oh, you're crazy for me."

Bella woke in slow, disorientating stages. The first being pain. Oh what a glorious feeling. Her head felt like a marching band had taken up residence and started practicing Ode to Joy. Over the thump-thumping of her temples trying to collapse into her brain, she could hear the soothing yet out of place 'whoosh' of rain in against tin. A heavy warm weight smothering her feet signaled that during the night wolf had once again snuck into bed with her and claimed her feet as his own snuggling spot.

The second stage was confusion. Because once the dull bliss of fatigue was gone, Bella was forced to realise that one, this was not her bed, two this was not her room and three, there was a strange man in the corner of the room staring at her with a steaming mug clasped within his hands.

Bella shot up right so fast for a second she was pretty sure she broke the sound barrier. And then everything that had happened rushed back in a wave of colour and sound and horror.

"Wolf!" she cried out, swinging her legs over what turned out to be the edge of a lumpy yet very soft couch. The blankets tangled around her ankles as well as her dog and both toppled to the floor with the action.

"Is that what you call that damn thing? And here I've been calling it 'damned mongrel from hell'. No wonder the thing didn't respond." A vaguely familiar and mirthful voice chirped out.

Bella realised with a jolt of surprise that the odd man sipping what was probably coffee and watching her wearily was none other than Billy Black. Best friend to her father and someone who had known her since 'she was nothing more than a gleam in Charlie's eye' as he liked put it.

"Billy?" She squawked, stumbling to her feet.

"Get over here and give an old man a hug, girl." Billy laughed at her expression and Bella was more than happy to cross the distance between them, throwing her arms around the seated man.

"But, I don't understand. How did I get here? Last night there was this wolf, and I think I hit a person. And-and the naked people!" her babble ended in an indignant screech of piercing levels.

Billy looked at her as if she'd just sprouted five additional heads and started singing in Chinese.

"What in the bloody hell are you talking about, girl? Last night Sue spotted a car under the welcome sign on her way back from Port Angeles. Lucky thing too. She found you bleeding and unconscious at the wheel. When she called me I nearly had a damned heart attack."

Bella tried to soak in everything that was being said, but none of it made sense. She knew what she had seen. It was the reason she had crashed in the first place.

"But, that can't be right. I got out of the car. There was a giant wolf on the road. Only it wasn't a wolf, Billy. It was a man." Now that she was saying this out loud Bella realised just how crazy it sounded, but it was true.

Apparently Billy thought so too, because he coughed awkwardly, probably embarrassed by her metal fragility.

"I don't know what you think you saw out there, sweet heart. But when Sue found you, you were in your car, soaked in blood." Billy was trying to be soothing, she could hear it in his voice, but Bella would not be deterred.

"Blood! Yes, my shirt. I took my shirt off—"

"Ah yeah, sorry about that. Sue said she took it off you to make sure it was just your head bleeding. Jacob was nice enough to lend you the one you're currently wearing." Billy cut over her smoothly, rolling his chair towards the kitchen bin which sat inconspicuously next to the fridge. Bella looked down at herself and the shirt that was practically eating her whole before following after Billy curiously. Only to take a staggering back a step when, as said, her bloodied camisole sat in a crumpled heap within the bin. Whole. Not in torn up tatters tied around some random wolf-mans wounded appendages. Shaking fingers deftly plucked up the light material as if afraid it would vanish, lifting it up to her face in disbelief

"I'm not crazy, Billy. I'm not." She croaked out, suddenly not so sure. It had felt so real. The rain, the wolf, the spangles of electricity that had raced patterns across her skin when warm hands had gently taken hold of her shoulders.

"And no one is saying you are, darling. You had quite a hard night last night and no one would blame you for seeing things out there. Hell, Sue swore she saw Elvis once. Had her in an uproar for weeks. Blasting into anyone that said otherwise." Though his laugh tried for honeyed and consoling, Bella didn't feel comforted. She felt lost. The blood soaked garment clutched to her chest like a life-line.

"There was no wolf?" she looked at Billy through the froth of her tangled mahogany curls.

"Well I am not going to say there aren't wolves round these parts, 'cause it'd be a lie. But there was no wolf out on the road, Bella. There was also no strange naked people running around either. Sue wouldn't have let me hear the end of it if there was."

Bell nodded mutely, sitting down on one of the kitchen chairs.

"Want me to toss that out?" Billy reached for the item of clothing in Bella's hands. Without thinking, Bella clutched it to her tighter before playing it off with a shaky laugh.

"No, if I don't show up with at least one bloodied garment, Charlie won't believe it's me. Besides, this top was a gift from mom. I'll see what I can do about getting the stains out."

The flesh between Billy's brows pulled together in a frown.

"Well, at least let me wash it for you then." He offered, once against reaching to take away the sheer fabric in her grasp.

"No, it's okay, Billy. Really. It's the car I'm more worried about at present. The rent-a-car place is going to have a fit when they see the damage." Bella lied glibly, tucking the shirt into the deep pocket of her jacket, though she had no recollection of collecting it from the road. Or putting it back on. Things just weren't adding up.

Could last night all have been in her head? It would make sense. How else would her shirt be in one piece? How else could she still have her coat?

Doubt pushed at her resolve. Nothing else made any sense other than it all being a head-injury induced hallucination.

"Well, I dunno, Bella. If they chuck a fit over that small amount of damage I'd be a little offended."

Wait, what?

"I beg your pardon?" Bella warbled, mouth gone slack with shock. _Small amount of damage?_ The windshield had looked like nothing but spider webs of glass and the bonnet had been bent up at an odd angle.

Together they headed for the front door, Bella going first to hold open the fly screen and Billy trundling along after. There, hooked up to a tow-truck that in bright red letters announced 'Clearwater's towing,' was her little ford fiesta. With nothing glaringly wrong with it other than a semi-circular dent from where she'd hit the welcome sign.

…What?

Her mind reeled. The ground under her seeming to slip away.

"I'd be happy to get Jacob to fix it for you, Bella. Taha Aki knows the kid hasn't shut up since he found out you were here last night. Which reminds me. I have a bone to pick with you, girl."

Forcing her eyes away from the car, Bella turned to stand a little numbly before Billy, her eyes probably the size of saucers.

"Why in the world would you knowingly put yourself at risk, driving in a storm like that and not tell anyone you were coming!" Billy waved a condescending finger at Bella and on cue, Bella dropped her gaze in shame.

"I wanted to surprise Charlie for Christmas." She mumbled. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

Billy, unimpressed, merely ran his chair wheel into her ankle and gave Bella a mighty glare which she wilted under even further.

"Well, if it's any consolation, the surprise hasn't been ruined. But I don't have to waste time telling you all the reasons that was a silly idea, do I?"

Bella shook her head and sniffled wetly.

"Aww, kid. Come here." Billy crooned and Bella all but dove into the man's arms, bawling against his chest, soaking through his flannel shirt with her big fat tears. The horror of last night seemed so fresh in her mind.

But it was maddening because nothing of what she thought she had saw, matched the reality of what had happened. Which was good, because it meant she hadn't killed an innocent animal. But it was also _not good,_ and for some reason it made her feel very sad to think her imagination had concocted something that startlingly detailed out of a car crash.

"Come on, Bella. Let's get you inside and fed." Billy patted her shoulders comfortingly, holding her hand while he wheeled them back inside.

It wasn't until Bella was back inside that she realised the utter squaller the Black house had fallen into. Wolf trotted over to meet them, tail wagging as he snuffled noisily at Bella's legs and baring his teeth at the wheels of Billy's chair.

Bella felt a flash of embarrassment when she realised the wheels were littered with tiny puncture holes, probably from wolf's teeth.

"Wolf! Have you been chewing on Billy's chair." She scolded the dog, who dutifully tucked his tail and looked up at her with sad blue eyes. Her heart melted instantly under the look. Huffing out a long sigh, Bella leant down to ruffle his fur. She pulled a face when his delivered a loving lick to her cheek.

"You're hopeless." She muttered with a weary grin. Billy wheeled further into the kitchen with a chuckle that was vaguely reminiscent. But Bella shook it off and stood, firmly planting her hands on her hips as she delivered the man a disapproving stare.

He blushed under the look.

"Well. Since you were nice enough to let me crash here last night, and listen to my insane rambling this morning, how about I whip you up something to eat?" Bella teased, eyebrows quirked.

Bella knew she was delaying the inevitable. Turning up on Charlie's doorstep without as much as a warning phone call or text. It seemed so stupid now she had thought about it. There was a big difference between a surprise and an inconvenience.

If Billy was wise to her ploy, it didn't show as his face hardened with protest.

"Now hang on a damned minute there. I don't expect you to cook for me, Bella. Not after last night. You should be sitting down resting."

Bella let out a blithe guffaw and ducked her slim frame to retrieve a garbage bag from under the sink.

"Billy Black, when have I ever taken no for an answer?" she teased from over her shoulder, watching with affection as the man's shoulders sagged in defeat before he wheeled out of the kitchen and into the lounge room.

Without a word, Bella opened the fridge and promptly frowned when she found nothing but two slices of stale bread and a plethora of beer.

'Typical. He's as bad as Charlie.' She laughed dryly to herself, snagging Billy a beer from the box of six. Bella tripped into the lounge room and handed the man a beer, watching his eyes widen in surprise as a smile tugged at his lips.

"It's good to have you back, Bella." He stated. Pride swelled in her chest, but she squashed it down and gave nothing but an indifferent shrug.

"It's good to be home." And then frowned with when she realised she meant it. With absolution she didn't know she possessed.

Huh.

Pressing her lips to Billy's temple, Bella snagged his keys from the coffee table and shimmed out of reach when he tried to protest.

"Ah-ah! I need to go get groceries if I am going to feed you anything but beer and moldy bread. And I don't want to take the hire car lest I damage it more with my spontaneous psychosis."

The look on Billy face was priceless.

"Oh, but totalling _my_ car is fine?" he remarked with an arched brow. Grinning at him cheekily, Bella nodded.

"Yep." She stated, popping the 'p' with ripe pink lips. "I saw that red tank sitting outside and I seriously doubt I could cause it grievous harm even if I was to try."

Billy's face lit up like a Christmas tree in the dark. Suddenly all bright and glowy. The apples of his cheeks turning the loveliest red Bella had seen on display.

He reached into the breast pocket of his flannel t-shirt and fished out a second set of keys before dangling them enticingly just out of reach.

"Well then you'll want these." His voice held a silent dare.

Bella's eyes twinkled. Challenge accepted. Faster than she thought she could possibly move, Bella snatched her hand forwards and grasped the keys, pulling to them to her chest almost protectively. Billy's eyes went wide.

Tossing down the keys she'd first picked up, Bella pressed another kiss to his warm cheek and all but danced to the door.

"I'll be back soon!" She cried as the screen door slapped shut behind her.

Bella approached the red truck like a spooked animal, with a respectful amount of uncertainty and apprehension. Like most cars, houses and things in general on the Rez, the truck was unlocked.

The door swung open invitingly and Bella was instantly in love. Gripping the framework she hauled herself up into the cab of the truck and inhaled deep through her nose. It smelt like leather and tobacco and something under it that was musky and earthy, with just a hint of pine.

Swallowing down a sound that only dogs would have been able to hear, Bella slid the keys into the ignition and turned the key with just barely suppressed glee. The truck roared to life and purred out low, loud, vibrating rumbles that almost shook her.

And the promptly stalled it.

What the…

Biting her lip, Bella shifted it back into neutral, pumped the clutch and keyed the ignition once again. After wrangling it into gear, and stomping on the clutch some more, she revved her way onto the road.

Ah, it had a double pump clutch. That explains why she had stalled it. Well with the era it was from, that should not have been surprising.

Guiding the beast of a machine onto the road, Bella kicked the up the gear a notch and pulled off to the right, peeling down the road with a joyous whoop. The truck rumbled along happily, steering like a dream with the soft sounds of country wafting at her quietly.

The trip to the local general store was a bit of a drive. Sure there was a small corner store and few other places on the Rez itself, but Bella had the Fork's ihop in mind and that was where she was going. Not to mention she didn't quite remember how to navigate the reservation.

The drive itself was peaceful, pretty splays of emerald, dark chocolate and a mash up of other colours joining as one and passing by her in an obscure visage. It also helped that the day itself was fine. Bright blue sky lit up vibrantly and spotted with two or three tuffs of fluffy white. Pulling her coat more tightly around her, Bella eased into the Forks turn off and speed toward the ihop.

She was humming absentmindedly along with the music playing softly when she arrived at her destination. The parking lot was all but empty. To be expected from a small town like Forks though. When parked squarely between her lines, Bella turned the engine off, slid out of the truck and locked it behind her. Giving the red beast an approving pat before wandering off towards the stores entrance.

Once a trolley was acquired, the food frenzy began. Bella made sure to get plenty of everything, knowing that Charlies fridge would probably need stocking also. She weaved her way through the aisles, snagging various items from the shelves without even stopping.

However it was the meat and vegetable aisle that she really went nuts in. Stocking up on thick cuts of meat and tender blocks of beef and pork. Toppling it all into the trolley. As well as a multitude of fresh leafy greens and other things that caught her fancy and sparked ideas for recipes she could make. She also made sure to grab a few cleaning products like dish soap, washing detergent and fabric softener before pulling up to the check out with the trolley that was piled high.

The cashier gawked at the amount of food, and then at Bella. It made Bella want to duck her head and hide behind the veil of her hair. Hair that she had completely forgotten to brush.

Oh. _Lovely_.

Her cheeks pinkened with shame.

The blue-eyed blond behind the register scanned her items at a pace that could only be described as agonizingly slow, packing away the objects willy-nilly into bags that looked ready to burst. Bella frowned, but said nothing.

By the time all the articles were scanned, her total check out price was in the three-hundreds. The girl gave Bella an inquiring look before popping her gum noisily.

"Cash, card or credit?" Her voice was high and nasal. Not overly pleasant, but Bella merely smiled and presented her savings card.

With her card back in her wallet, and the receipt crumpled in her fist, Bella did her best to wrestle the trolley out the door and towards the truck she had liberated from Billy. It took a little while, but soon all the groceries were packed away neat and tight in the tray of the truck, with the covered pulled down over them. Just in case it rained.

After securing her load of food that could feed an army and then some, Bella hauled up into the cab and stopped. Hand frozen inches away from the ignition, breathe coming out in short, sporadic bursts.

Brown eyes watched as big fat drops of rain started hitting her windscreen. While rain in Forks was as common as white rice, it was the feeling that washed over her that had Bella sitting in stunned silence.

She swallowed thickly as the heat of the road and the cold rain created fog, which rolled across the road in smoky waves. And as the rain picked up, so did her breathing.

Panting breaths fogging up the insides of trucks windows. Her skin crawled, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and worse than anything, her mind screamed that this false calm was a lie. It wasn't logical. Nothing added up. Her hand crept to the pocket of her jacket and her fingers curled in the crusted feel of her camisole. Whole and in one piece. And it felt wrong. She had expected to find her pocket empty. She was happy it wasn't empty. Told herself she was comforted by the feel of her shirt. But was she?

Sitting there, shaking from head to toe and breathing like she'd just run a marathon, Bella couldn't seem to convince herself that she was comforted.

Compelled, Bella started the truck, pumped the clutch and peeled off out of the ihop carpark in the complete opposite direction of the Rez. As the alien green landscape blurred past her windows, memories of the night before overcame her. Startlingly clear.

 ** _"Wolf, calm down buddy I can't see."_**

Bella could almost hear wolf barking, here and now. Even knowing that he was miles away, probably attacking Billy Blacks chair. She could virtually feel the wheel slipping out of her hands as her car lost traction and she spun across the road. But the wheel was still securely within her death grip, trusty old truck trundling down the highway at 40 miles an hour.

 _ **"Shh, shh. It's okay. I know it hurts. But I need to staunch the bleeding."**_

Blood. There had been so much blood. How could she have just made that up? And the bone…

Her gag reflexes kicked in.

Her heart hammered against her rib-cage.

Bella drove until she hit the outskirts of Forks and then kept driving until she came to the Welcome sign. Her eyes stung and her mouth was bone dry. She pulled the car to an abrupt stop and sat there with the pouring rain beating down and wipers bounding left to right. Sitting forwards in her chair, she could clearly make out the road in front of her and the definitive signs of her crash.

 _ **"I won't leave you here, I won't, I promise."**_

But she had. She had left that wolf-man here, lying in the road bleeding and wrapped in the grisly remains of her shirt.

Brown eyes tracked the skid marks that fish-tailed across the road and ended at the welcome sign. The sign that was now bent at a ninety degree angle. The grass was torn up from where her tires had tried to break. There was a smear of red on the welcome sign, paint from her car. But there was no glass. There was no dead body. No wounded animal. No wolf. Just some tire tracks and a bent sign.

Bella didn't know what she'd been hoping to find but by the lump in her gut and the tears in her eyes, she knew she hadn't found it. She left the engine running, kicking open the car door and stumbling out into the bucketing rain. She pushed her hair back from her face and dipped to stare at the road. She followed the crazed tire tracks. She kicked at loose gravel and tried to find evidence of something. Anything!

But all she found was evidence of one thing. She'd crashed.

 _ **"I- I hit a wolf."**_

Yes, yes she had. Or she thought she had. She'd hit a wolf. Only it hadn't looked like a wolf. It hadn't looked like a bear either. What she had hit… had looked human _._

Kneeling in the middle of the road, bathed in light of the trucks headlights, Bella touched the place where the wolf-man had lay bleeding. She lifted her fingers and they came away from the road sooty with grit but not red with blood. She circled a few more spots, fingers to the road and repeated the process but never once did her fingers came away from the road red.

Not sure why, but unable to help it, Bella felt herself starting to get angry.

She wasn't crazy!

She was so sure that last night had happened.

 _ **"Bella. My name is Bella."**_

So then where was the evidence? Where was the wolf-man? Why was her shirt in her pocket? Why was her car barely dented?

She spun in circles. Mind racing with the memories of the prior night and throat tight with the urge to cry.

"Bella?"

Bella turned to see a grim-faced Billy staring at her sadly. His car parked behind the truck. She bit back on a sob and said.

"I'm not crazy, Billy."

The man shook his head, inky black hair loose around his face.

"I know, baby girl. I know."

But he didn't.

And there at his feet, glinting in the lights of his car was a tiny shard of glass.

He waited for Bella to pull herself up into the truck, big brown eyes glossy with tears, and small frame wracked by sobs before stretching out quickly to pick up the shard. He slipped it into his pocket while he watched her wrestle the truck into gear.

End Chapter.

Okay, so it's been a while, a very long while and I know this chapter is slow and short. But I have a reason for everything. I swear.

Everything will be explained and I am bow back and will be posting chapters as quickly as I can get them out. As always, any mistakes are my own, I hope you liked the chapter and feel free to ask me any questions. Reviews are welcome and loved and I'll see you guys next chapter.


	3. Dog gone too far

**Chapter Start:** Dog gone too far.

"I always say the truth is best even when we find it unpleasant. Any rat in a sewer can lie. It's how rats are. It's what makes them rats. But a human doesn't run and hide in dark places, because he's something more. Lying is the most personal act of cowardice there is."  
 _― Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion._

* * *

"Are you fucking mental? That is the most stupid thing I've ever heard." Paul groused, arms full with the wounded, unconscious body of his pack brother Jared. Sam gave his irritable beta a stern look, hackles ruffling slightly at the question of his authority.

"Paul. I am the alpha of this pack and you will do as I say." It wasn't a command, yet, but it held a silent dare for the other to object. Paul fell into line surely enough but with a furious growl. Sam straightened out his spine, rising up to his full height and squared his shoulders, dipping his head as he snarled right back.

It had been months since Paul had pushed his standings with Sam, and had stopped after Sam had promptly handed Paul his ass on a platter. While the alpha didn't want a repeat, hating to discipline any of his pack, he would if Paul back down and submit. Now was not the time for pack disputes. As if sensing this, Paul deflated like a popped balloon, ducking his head in mock submission. However, his eyes gleamed, brown bleeding into startling amber. Not an outright challenge, but nor was it complete obedience.

Sam would let that slide, _for now._

They'd all had a crap night and it was on a fast-track to even shittier territory.

However, despite whatever he, or Paul for that matter, thought, there were protocols the pack had to abide by. And Sam needed Paul to have his back on this. It was just the three of them, Paul, Jared and he, to defend Fork's from vampires. They needed to be a unified front, and considering one of their three-man pack was going to be out of commission for at least a few days, Sam really needed Paul to step up and to take orders, regardless of what they were, no questions asked.

"Fine. I'll be ready if you need back up. No need to fucking bite my dick off." Shoulders shaking, Paul turned and marched off into the trees, silently stalking through the dense undergrowth, Jared dangling from his arms.

Sam inhaled deeply and dropped his shoulders as he tried to relax. Once sure that Paul wasn't lurking just out of earshot, he turned on his heel and headed for the treaty line.

Paul had been right, of course.

Involving the local leeches in this wasn't exactly one of Sam's finest ideas. But it wasn't so much an 'idea' as it was more of an unspoken obligation. And also, unbeknownst to Paul, a direct order from Billy Black. Sam shot through the trees in a blur of russet skin. His feet squished through the softened earth and the rain whipped at his torso. He rolled under fallen trees, leapt over stumps and wholly let his senses guide him.

He was just about at the treaty line when the first traces of vampire began to pollute the otherwise clean air. It wafted on the wind, ripe with rot and cloying with a chemical stink that always reminded Sam of bleach.

They were waiting for him. How they had known to be at the treaty line was a mystery he couldn't even begin to riddle out. While he might have been more than happy to chalk it up to weird vampire tricks and be done with it he was also smart enough to know there was more to it than that.

Shaking water from his choppy locks, Sam stepped out of the cover provided by the line of pine trees and made his way to where they stood, ethereal and glowing like polished marble in the barely-there moonlight. It took every bit of willpower he possessed not to phase then and there. Not even the heavy rain could douse out the smell of them.

"Sam." The leader stepped forwards and greeted him politely.

"Carlisle," Sam gave the leech a terse nod. "There has been an incident."

The vampire glowered. Marble hard skin rippling as muscles twitched beneath that milky white surface. It was both horrifying and fascinating to watch. As if someone had managed to animate a china doll but wasn't quite successful in quite making the porcelain mesh with the mechanics.

"Does this involve the nomads?" Another asked. Male, all cherub blond curls, and dimples that seemed entirely comical on the face of a killer.

Sam nodded once again and said.

"A civilian was involved."

The female immediately to Carlisle's left gasped, hands flying to her mouth. Shock and worry flashing across her pretty face.

"Oh, heavens." She actually managed to look remorseful, turning her face into the nook of Carlisle's chest. In a moment that was surprisingly tender, Carlisle wrapped a consoling arm around the female's shoulders and gently patted her back, murmuring soft words of reassurance to her.

Sam wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to feel about the vampire's acting human, so he ignored it. While he was equipped with the 'tools' to kill vampires, he lacked the capacity to understand them. Not that he wanted to. He was just fine with seeing humans as human, and not walking bags of blood.

"Are my medical skill required?" Carlisle inquired sounding like he already knew the answer.

"No. The girl is fine. A minor head injury. However…" he broke off, suddenly looking anywhere but at the vampires in front of him. The request he had sounded so fucking idiotic, even in his own head. So without a word Sam thrust his fist at them, holding out the shredded remnants of the girl's blouse.

As if the scene that unfolded was stolen from a nineteen- eighty's horror film, the gathering of vampires all shied away quickly, hands flying to cover their noses.

Oh right. Blood.

 _Whoops._

"What is the meaning of this, wolf." Another female leech stepped forwards, her eyes as black as a starless night and her long platinum blond hair flying wildly around her head and shoulders. With her plump red lips pulled up over her gleaming fangs and her hands clawed as they were, she looked like a harpy. Beautiful but deadly.

"I meant no offence." Sam quickly tried to placate, swallowing down the growl that threatened to escape his trembling lips, but still needing to lisp slightly around the feel of his slightly elongated eyeteeth. His was wolf clawing to get out from the inside. Swelling within his chest and pushing out through the skin of him.

"A cover up is needed to protect not only the girl but both of our secrets. We need as much evidence as we can. Billy—"

"Oh!" Unexpectedly trilled a dark haired pixy looking vampire, effectively cutting Sam off as she danced over to him and snatched up the shirt with a wrinkled nose. "I'll do it." She affirmed, nodding with a sunny smile. She was tiny. Short dark hair spiked and blown into an artful craze due to the storm unfolding around them. Lightning crashed in the distance and her eyes flashed in the light.

Sam stared in baffled confusion.

"I wasn't done explain—"

"I have sewing skills. And I have a blouse similar. I'll get it back to you within the hour." She cut him off again, winking as she skipped back to Carlisle who tilted his head at the dark haired vampire as if her quirky behaviour was completely normal. Then the leech turned his amber eyes back on Sam.

"Was there anything else?"

Sam thought about telling him of the nomad's demise and the other issue he would no doubt have to deal with at a later date but decided against it.

"No, I will meet you back here in an hour." With that, he turned bodily to retreat into the trees.

When he looked back the vampires were gone, leaving only the stink of the undead behind as evidence they had been there.

Leaving his pants hanging on a low branch, Sam shifted and raced towards to road, massive black body melding into the shadows around him. He had a lot of cleaning up to do.

 _Jared is sleeping. How'd it go?_ Paul's voice sounded distant even though their shared mind. He'd phased at Jared's house, staying close to his wounded pack brother. An unconscious crossover from the wolfs animal instinct to protect its fellow pack member. It was a good sign. Paul was growing. Probably in subtle ways, he wouldn't notice himself, but Sam did. When Paul had first phased he'd been an out of control menace. Attacking not only Sam, and but Jared who had phased mere months before Paul. He'd also fought every order Sam had given him.

 _As well as can be expected I guess. If this is to go smoothly, we need to be careful. Billy can only do so much. Head over to his place and see what you can so about the girl's car. Get any parts you need from my garage. At the very least replace the windshield._

Now that the worst of it was done and over, Sam felt calmer. Sure, it had included a rather nasty tongue lashing from Billy, and had involved asking damned vampires for help, but it was done. A cover-up was underway and Sam and his pack's secret was safe. _For now._

Paul was looking in at Jared through the lone small, dusted bedroom window and Sam watched through his pack brother's eyes as Jared moaned in pain. Skin knitting back together over the torn muscles exposed over the teens ribs. The bone gleaming pink and oh-so-white against the red of blood and gore. Jared's leg, however, was the worst of the injuries. Bones not broken, but more splintered. It was a good thing the girl had done a good job getting the shards back where they needed to be. Otherwise, they would have had to re-break it and reset it.

As if sensing Sam's thoughts Paul spoke through the link.

 _Almost a shame Jared won't get to thank her_. While the words themselves were about as sweet as Sam had ever heard Paul be, with how thickly they were laced with innuendo completely detracted from the sentimentality. Sam rolled his eyes as he padded out onto the road, following the trail of broken glass, the smell of Jared's blood and the nose-crinkling stink of leech.

 _I'm going to be here a while. Make sure you get that car window fixed._ Sam sent back to Paul, who grunted and nodded in cursory acknowledgement.

 _Yeah, yeah. I'm going now._

The link went silent signalling that Paul had shifted, probably returning inside to tend to Jared before heading over to Billy's.

Sam shifted soon after, head tilted as he watched the headlights of Billy's truck lumbering up the road. It pulled to a stop and a pair of cut-offs were flung out the window at the naked werewolf.

"Put those on quick before someone sees," Billy commanded, face hard and voice flat. Without so much as a second thought, Sam obliged quickly and quietly, sipping them on and buttoning them up.

"Are you sure about this, Billy?" Sam addressed the elder while unpacking a few things from the trucks tray.

"Am I sure I don't want people seeing you running about with your pink bits on display? Gee, let me think a minute 'ere." The words could have been light and teasing but the atmosphere was tense and a heavy weight had settled on Sam's shoulders.

"I didn't mean—"

"I know damned well what you meant, boy. I've known Bella her whole life. Let me handle her. You just get this mess cleaned up." And with that, Billy handed Sam a broom, and promptly wound his window up, cutting off any reply or questions Sam might have had.

Sighing, Sam, broom in one hand and bucket in the other, watched as Billy sped off. It felt very, very wrong somehow. While he wasn't sure how exactly Billy planned on explaining all this away, he couldn't help but hate himself just a little for going along with it.

Sam might have owed Billy Black a hell of a lot, this somehow felt like crossing a line. Shaking his head of such thoughts, Sam placed the bucket on the road and began the long tedious task of making the evidence 'disappear.'

It took hours. Though the rain had worked its magic in washing away the blood, with it went a lot of glass and Sam spent most of the night sweeping and hunting through puddles of water and mud trying to find every tiny little piece of the scattered remnants of the girl's windshield. His fingers were a mess of tiny cuts by the time he was done and the sun had just started to peek over the horizon.

The skyline burned and the clouds were beginning to glow golden as flares of peach and crimson were dashed across the velvety black backdrop of fleeing dusk as it morphed into the colours of dawn.

Grabbing the bucket and broom, Sam fled the scene before any of the early risers spotted him picking his way across the road, never once noticing the tiny piece of glass he'd left glinting innocently on the road.

He dumped the bucket at his place then raced to the treaty line, surprised to find the dark haired vampire by herself, shirt in hand.

"Sorry, I'm la—"

"Late? Doesn't matter. I knew you would be. I only just got here myself."

"How'd you know I'd be late?" Sam queried, weary and puzzled and annoyed all at once.

The vampire laughed. A high tinkling sound that was all wind chime sweet and a little unnerving.

"I know a great many things."

Unable to help it, Sam glowered at the strange vampire, taking the blouse from her hands with a grimace as his fingers accidently grazed her cold skin.

Her smile went from sweet to toothy, shiny and sharp like a knife.

"And I know things are about to get very interesting."

She turned with a flap of her hand and danced away on her the tips of her toes, stopping just long enough to say.

"Say hello to Bella for me." And then she was gone.

For a moment all Sam could do was stand in the pouring rain, soaked through and heart thumping against his ribs.

Bella.

 _Bella?_

Why did that name sound familiar?

Dismissing the question and shrugging his broad shoulders, he turned and made his way across the soggy ground.

 _ **"Bella, my name is Bella."**_

The memory struck him as suddenly and as hard as a hammer between the eyes, staggering him briefly.

The breath in his lungs left him in a great whoosh and he spun around so fast his neck cracked, hunting for even a glimpse of the fairy-like vampire girl. But she was gone, and Sam was left feeling disturbed and very, very confused.

The wolf found himself clutching Bella's shirt in his fist as if it was the only real evidence of what had just happened. It took a lot to rattle Sam, but he found himself shaken. Unsure what had just happened and perplexed as to why it had felt like a threat.

Billy Black found Sam standing on his porch, pale and wide-eyed, gripping Bella's blood-soaked camisole hours later.

The girl known as Bella was fast asleep on the couch in the lounge room, breathing soft and smelling of strawberries and wild flowers. Sam, however, wasn't appeased until he was permitted entry and marched to the girl's side. He stared down at her for a clue or something that would make what the odd Cullen vampire said make sense.

But all he found was the small, vulnerable form of a sleeping girl, forehead freshly stitched and face drawn up in lines of pain and undoubted tormented by nightmares.

Billy wheeled into the kitchen and motioned for Sam to follow him. Without a word, the wolf did so, ducking his massive frame to fit through the doorway.

"You want a coffee?" Billy offered. Dazed and still rather confounded, Sam nodded, neck stiff and mouth pulled into a tight line of displeasure.

"Good, I'll take one to."

Realising he'd just been played, Sam stood, filled the kettle and got out two mugs. It wasn't until he was dumping sugar into the cups that he realised how badly his hands were shaking.

"You gonna tell me what's going on, Sam?" Billy's voice was quite, no doubt not wanting to wake the sleeping girl in the next room. Sam poured the water, fetched the milk and delivered the coffee, placing it on the table in front of Billy.

As it was, Sam eyed the man, inhaled, and then scrubbed a hand over his face. He had no idea how to even begin to explain what had transpired. Or even why it had him so unsettled. So, he sipped at his coffee, placed it down and then basically gave the man an instant replay.

By the time he was done, Billy himself was as white as the flaking walls behind him. Sam shifted to peer into the darkness of the lounge room and asked quietly.

"How well did you say you knew Bella?"

Billy twisted to gaze into lounge room himself, grizzled face pulled up in a deep look of contemplation.

"I thought I knew her pretty damn well, but Sam, there's more to this."

Sam rotated back to Billy with a blank look marring his otherwise high-set features.

"What do you mean?"

Billy took a large drink of his coffee as if to add effect to whatever he was about to say.

"The Cullen's have been here what? Barely a year?"

Sam bobbed his head and waited patiently for Billy to continue.

"Bella hasn't been in in two, nearly three years."

Silence, yet again. If Sam was picking up was Billy was putting down, it didn't show.

With no other way another other than to come out and say it, Billy finally snapped maybe just a little too loudly.

"There's no way that vampire could have known her name."

It took a moment, and then it was as if a lightbulb had gone off in Sam's head. A look of understanding washed over his face. And when it did, it was soon followed by yet another look of alarm.

If the timelines didn't match up for Bella to have any association with the Cullen's, then how did one of them now her name?

For yet the second time that night, Sam felt as though the proverbial rug had just been snatched out from under his feet.

 **End Chapter.**

* * *

Ugh, I am so unhappy with this chapter. It feels… clunky and short.

 **Those of you that stuck with this story** after the lengthy gap between chapters, I want to thank you. If not for the reviews and private messages I don't think I would have come back to this. And that would have been a shame, because I have so many ideas for it, and it is going be a long process of getting it all down.

 _ **A few words for those unhappy with the last chapter.**_

What Billy did was wrong. I did not like writing it because if anyone did that to me I think I would crumble. Sadly, however, it was necessary. Bella needs to grow and be strong for the road ahead. She needs moments that shake and maybe even break her so that she is given the chance to pull herself together, brush herself off, and go, ' _No, I am stronger than this.'_

But don't think for one second that Billy is not getting his comeuppance because that is one thing I am big on. Karma is a bitch, and those that are on its list can run and can hide, but eventually, you reap what you sow.


End file.
